Propane valve question

I would guess no.. Home propane grill line feeds off of the gas of the liquid propane, whereas forklifts feeds off the liquid.

The new-style BBQ tank valves have a POL fitting inside the external Acme thread, so older equipment can be connected. Will it work? For equipment that takes a moderate amount of vapor, probably. For equipment, like engines, that require liquid LP, probably not. If all you have is a 20 lb bottle and you want to test the engine, hook it up, stand it on its head and see what you get. Might start and not keep running. At least you'd know if the engine worked or not. For engine use, you need a tank with a syphon tube inside so that liquid gets passed, not vapor. There's a vaporizor on the engine to supply sufficient gas to do actual work, usually attached to coolant or engine oil lines to get engine heat.

Or maybe I misunderstood what you're asking, you already have a syphon tank and want to gravity fill it from a BBQ bottle? Could be done if you've got a hose with 2 POL fittings. At some point, though, the float inside the upside-down BBQ tank is going to cut things off when the level gets low enough. Do it outside, though, with no flammables or ignition source around. One operator in my home town managed to burn down a block-square box factory warehouse filled with paper rolls when his forklift tank leaked and caught on fire. The remains smouldered for weeks.

Best bet is to find a propane service outfit and see if they have the special forklift tanks and what they charge for a fill. Might be worth changing out hose and fitting, too, if it's really old.

Stan

snipped-for-privacy@prolynx.com fired this volley in news:d7ede5ae-77a1-46e9-b390- snipped-for-privacy@w4g2000vbh.googlegroups.com:

The POL valve inside the newer fittings is equivalent to the old POL. If you could run the engine on a pre-1990s POL, you can run it with the newer valves.

The problem with most high-flow gas feeds (as opposed to liquid feeds) is the darn overflow-prevention valve/float assembly. It gets "hinky" if the gas in the bottle boils while the bottle is near-full. Too fast a feed, and it sometimes shuts off intermittently.

I don't seem to recall if the valve also prevents a liquid feed -- anyone else?

LLoyd

I think what he is asking is, can he run his BBQ grill from a forklift tank?

Jim

Nope. BBQ uses propane gas to the regulator for burners. Fork Truck use liquid propane to the regulator.

The tanks are different because of this.

"Jim Chandler" wrote

Hold your phone calls, folks. We have a winner!

Will take the tank to a long time friend who owns a propane business here and see if I can get an adapter, or if I should just sell them. They are 4 years old, aluminum, clean, and I got 5 of them for $20.

Figured I could at least break even.

Steve

I love short simple answers.

Steve

Then, mine should be less pleasing. But far more useful.

(Ask your propane dealer friend to swap your tanks for what he's got on the scrap pile, and ask him to fill them first.)

Is not the propane bottle about the same - one being higher quality - but lies on its side thus delivering liquid while the Grill and Furnace (in my case) we stand the bottles up and take it off the top.

If you want a high flow propane bottle - ask for a commercial bottle. Or get a 4' tall one - about 3 bottle size - I call it 30 gallons but then most don't here. I use that in both brazing with a large oxygen bottle and by itself as a source of heat in my furnace.

Mart> >> Will the connector from a home propane grill line hook up to and work on a

My guess is that the fork tanks are worth more than BBQ tanks. As such, your propane business friend will likely swap them with you. And then you'll both be using the proper equipment.

He may even swap empty fork tanks, for full BBQ tanks, and still think he got the better deal. Don't say how much you paid, though.

As I understand, fork lift tanks dispense liquid propane. So, if you put a BBQ regulator on a fork lift tank, it would feed liquid propane in to the regulator. Not likely to work correctly.

Should be at least a 2:1 swap. 2 BBQ for 1 forklift tank.

Or sell 1 to me. Most forklifts I'm looking at do not include a tank.

Most likely not worth the hassel to ship.

Thank You, Randy

Remove 333 from email address to reply.

Where do you live? I see them on ebay, so they must ship empty.

The new nice aluminum ones are spendy.

Steve

I wish you were closer. I have an old decrepit Toyota 3 ton lift truck that runs on propane. I've limped by with only one tank---possible only because I use the truck only occasionally. Sure would be nice to have a spare, though.

Harold

Allentown Pa. Thank You, Randy

Remove 333 from email address to reply.

Harold, where are you located? I think, if I haave my mind in gear, that you're not too far from me. I'm in Apple Valley, CA. and I have an old forklift tank that you are welcome to.

Jim

Got to be someone (or several someones) who can make the connection between point A and point B.

Just for grins I did a websearch for propane refilling and came across this: